Developing a financial plan for your start-up can be a daunting task, especially for founders with a scientific or technical background. Forecasting your costs as accurately as possible, realistically valuing your product within the context of its market potential, and identifying your manufacturing cost-of-goods, are crucial prerequisites to securing an appropriate level of investment. Actually securing investment a whole new ball game- pitching to investors is a real art and often requires massive time commitments from company founders.